Michelle Obama criticized for remarks

Michelle Obama found herself at the center of a political tempest Tuesday after telling a Wisconsin audience while campaigning for husband Barack Obama that “for the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country.”

Conservatives pounced.

On his blog, Commentary magazine Editor John Podhoretz wrote: “Can it really be there has not been a moment … when she felt proud of her country? Forget matters like the victory in the Cold War; how about only things that have made liberals proud… . How about the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1991? Or Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s elevation to the Supreme Court? Or Carol Moseley Braun’s election to the Senate in 1998? … Didn’t she even get a twinge from, say, the Olympics?”

Podhoretz acknowledged that Michelle Obama might have been engaging in hyperbole, not unheard of on the campaign trail.

In her remarks at the rally in Madison, Obama, 44, said, “What we have learned over this year is that hope is making a comeback … and let me tell you, for the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change.”

Cindy McCain, wife of probable Republican presidential nominee John McCain, alluded to the flap Tuesday when she introduced her husband to a crowd in Brookfield, Wis.

“I’m proud of my country,” she said. “I don’t know about you, if you had heard those words earlier, I’m very proud of my country.”

The Obama campaign e-mailed reporters a clarification of Michelle Obama’s remarks.

“What she meant is that she’s really proud at this moment because for the first time in a long time, thousands of Americans who’ve never participated in politics before are coming out in record numbers to build a grass-roots movement for change.”

robin.abcarian@latimes.com